Calyptrocalyx
Calyptrocalyx is a genus of plants in the palm family Arecaceae, native to New Guinea and the nearby Maluku Islands. Ranging from small to large, the palms in this genus are increasingly found in cultivation owing largely to their purple, red, and orange colored, new foliage. At least 26 species have been described while others, known only by local names, have not yet received a taxonomic account. Palms formerly classified within Paralinospadix have been incorporated into this genus. It is named from two Greek words meaning 'covered' and 'calyx'.
Description
Most Calyptrocalyx species are clustering while a few grow from solitary trunks, all being conspicuously ringed by leaf scars. Trunk diameters range from 1 cm in C. arfakiensis to 25 cm in C. spicatus, spanning heights of 1 to 12 m. The leaves may be pinnate, bifid, or undivided on adaxially channeled, abaxially rounded petioles. While the foliage of these palms matures to various shades of green it is often brightly colored when emergent.The inflorescence is usually an unbranched, interfoliar spike with unisexual flowers of both sexes; both pistillate and staminate flowers have three sepals and three petals. The fruit produced by Calyptrocalyx species is usually orange or red in color when mature, each containing one seed.